sustain:if:able kiwi

spiritual formation in contempory contexts

Last night we held a Life Party in the foyer at Opawa Baptist. 25 people gathering to sip on lattes and sparkling grapejuice, to hear stories around Growth Coaching, and to leave cheese and biscuit crumbs on the carpet.

For the last 18 months I have been part of developing Growth Coaching. Most spiritual formation is book and programmed based; you take a course that is full of words. The content tends to expose a narrow understanding of spirituality. Turn up 2 weeks late and you have to wait for next time.

Growth coaching is one-on-one spiritual partnership. I wanted something that breathed of life to the full. It had to be relational. It had to encourage whole of life development. It had to be creatively adaptive, suitable for all types of learners, not just book-focused people. It had to be accessible, easy to enter, no matter where you where or when you turned up.

The first meeting involves a self-audit; 99 questions which are designed to enable a person to reflect on the whole of their life.

In a second meeting, a Growth Coach, having listened and prayed, tentatively offers a vision of a new future. If this vision resonates, then together a path forward is planned. Accountability steps and a timeline are inserted. This could include naming an “encourager”, a cheer leader type, who is invited to text, email or phone support. Each programme is tailored and unique.

Theologically this approach believes in the imago dei, that the image of God is inside humans. It believes in the Spirit to cause growth. It values the relational community, God at work through human partnerships.

At the Life Party last night we heard stories of how Growth coaching has grown people. Stories were shared; of love poems written to spouses and new ways of being spiritual and peacefully centred at work, of the courage to grow and the unpredictable Spirit at work. In a world of cynicism, last night was a rare privilege.

The Life Party will hopefully become an annual event at Opawa, a chance to celebrate growth. Growth Coaching is now one year old. We have trained 8 Coaches over a 8 week period and seen 8 people Growth coached. Last night 4 more people enquired about being trained as a Growth Coach and 5-8 others enquired about being Growth coached.

For a sermon on a biblical narrative of growth coaching (Luke 1:39-45) go here:

For an newspaper article on Growth Coaching, go here.